Cross-Country Road Trip: California to New Jersey
Maybe we’re crazy, but this was our fourth time driving across the USA together. The cross-country journey is always a mixed bag of emotions—excitement, boredom, awe, exhaustion, and more. For us with a dog, it’s a lot of gas station stops and Motel 6’s (no pet fees!) But those are perfectly balanced with incredible landscapes, national parks, and campgrounds. And when it’s over, you tend to forget the endless, droning miles and remember all the wonders in between.
We wanted to mix it up from the last time we did this drive, three years ago, so we plotted a slightly different route. Here’s where we went (and no, we didn’t drive through Lake Erie, but you get the idea):
Capitol Reef National Park
The first morning, I took Bailey for our last beach walk in Leucadia, then we packed up the car and headed west. We arrived in Torrey, Utah around sunset and had a nice dinner at Rim Rock Patio overlooking Capitol Reef National Park. We stayed in a cute, tiny cabin (Torrey Trading Post and Cabins) in a dark sky community to see some stars, rest, and wake up early for a hike in the park.
I’d visited Bryce and Zion National Parks before, but I’d always wanted to check out Capitol Reef, and it really exceeded my expectations. We started the day with the Chimney Rock trail hike. We were worried about the heat in June for Bailey’s paws, but it wasn’t too hot yet in this part of Utah. The views of the rocks and sunrise were impressive, and the hike got our hearts pumping with some elevation.
Afterwards, we set off on another shorter hike on the Fremont River Trail, which actually ended up being my favorite. We hiked through orchards with an abundance of apricots ripe for picking, then followed along the river until we got to the no-dogs-allowed zone. It was shaded and a perfect afternoon hike for us. Finally, we took a drive down toward Capitol Gorge and stopped for a picnic lunch, where we took in the view and ate our leftovers from the night before.
Arches National Park
Moab, Utah was a lot hotter, so I was glad we arrived right before sunset. We drove from our hotel (Red Stone Inn) into Arches to watch the sunset around the balancing rock and found a good spot to eat some takeout burritos. They weren’t very good, so I won’t share the restaurant, but the views were perfect. The next morning, we did a humans-only hike to the Delicate Arch. It was crowded, but completely worthwhile. As soon as you come up over the final crest of the hike, you’re greeted with strong winds and an awesome view of the arch. It’s a stunning feat of nature.
Great Sand Dunes National Park
It was the last month of our National Park pass and we were putting it to work. Our next drive took us to southern Colorado and the Great Sand Dunes. We stayed in a nice campground (Base Camp Family Campground) just outside the park with these metal tent shelters to protect us from the wind. That made a huge difference, because it’s super windy out in the desert!
In the morning, we rented sandboards and headed out into the dunes. Hiking was tough in the soft sand, but we think it was Bailey’s favorite park since she got to dig to her heart’s content. We also found that sandboarding was a lot harder for our 30/40-something bodies than we expected. Once the sand was heating up, we left and stopped for a fantastic brunch at Mountain View Diner. Then the drive took us further north into Colorado.
Colorado Springs
When it comes to road trips with a dog, I’ve found national parks to be overrated and state parks to be underrated. National parks often don’t allow dogs at all, or they have a couple of very short dog friendly trails that are close to the main roads with no views. I understand the need to protect the native wildlife, so state parks can be an even better alternative. We found a nice one at Cheyenne Mountain State Park in Colorado. Our campsite was wooded and secluded with views overlooking Colorado Springs. A family of deer passed through in the early morning, and Bailey shockingly didn’t even bark at them. We were all at peace here.
In the evening, we hiked at Garden of the Gods. The main area was busy, but once we got up into the trails, it was much less crowded with lovely views of the rocks. Afterwards, we found burgers and white russians at a Big Lebowski themed bar. I would highly recommend for great food and drinks!
Elk Horn, Iowa
After Colorado, the drive starts to get a bit flat and boring, so we had to spice it up with novelty fast food and trolls. We stopped in Elk Horn, Nebraska at the Museum of Danish America to visit one of Thomas Dambo’s troll sculptures. This one was one of my favorite trolls yet, since he’s traveling in a boat and connecting the US to Dambo’s heritage in Denmark.
We continued the drive to the Crest Country Inn in Williamsburg, Iowa, which ended up being a nice road trip stop with a large, cozy room, fishing-themed decor, and breakfast included. We stopped for dinner at Culver’s, a Midwestern chain with custard milkshakes and cheese curds so you can make your own poutine. Not healthy by any means, but a new and different experience for us.
Clinton, Iowa
We saw four more trolls in Clinton, Iowa (here’s a post that describes where to find them all). We saw one lounging in the grass, our first indoor troll, and one holding up a tree. We were only expecting to find three, but at our first stop, we talked to one of the volunteers who worked on the construction of the trolls. He told us that the volunteer team had worked hard and finished early, so Dambo gifted them with a fourth, more abstract troll, hidden deeper in the forest at Eagle Point Park. It was a worthy stop for me, since I’ve been hunting these troll sculptures around the world.
Chicago
Later that day, we drove through thunderstorms around Cleveland and stopped in Chicago. I don’t have many photos, since it was raining heavily and we spent dinner catching up with one of Bryan’s friends—it was nice to have a home cooked meal after a week on the road! However, I always have photos of Bailey, so here’s one where we stopped for human and pup cups somewhere in the midwest. And a brewery in Chicago.
Erie, Pennsylvania
At this point, life on the road was getting kind of tough. Between working remotely from coffee shops and rest areas and two icky, carpeted Motel 6 stays in a row, we needed some reenergizing time in a nature. On the bright side, the rest areas and coffee shops we found were nice and had solid wifi. And we’re resilient folks, so we powered through to Presque Isle State Park in Erie, PA. We took a walk on a gorgeous, peaceful lake beach, and I even took a dip to cleanse my soul. Then it was back in the car and further east to go…
Allegheny State Park
Our final stop was a total re-immersion into nature. Allegheny State Park is right on the border of Pennsylvania and New York. We arrived as the sun was setting, so we decided not to set off on a hike—there are lots of black bears in the area. Instead, we set up camp, ate some tasty Mountain House meals, and enjoyed a fire. It was a bittersweet end to the trip. We were looking forward to sleeping in a non-motel bed and never seeing the inside of a Toyota Corolla again. In the morning, we did a short, woodsy hike that was a bit confusing and never amounted to a view. Then we stopped at Tim Horton’s to try some coffee and breakfast from our Canadian neighbors.
Home Sweet Home
Jersey, sweet Jersey. Later that day, we arrived home, hung our camping gear out to dry, and slept as much as we could. There were bagels and beach visits in store, as we unpacked and (yikes) already started to re-pack for the next trip. Bailey, as always, was happy to be home.
